Processing of financial documents, such as bank deposits and the items making up the deposits, includes a number of stages, with machine processing stages being followed by stages of transporting documents from one location to another, as well as human intervention in machine processing stages. Human intervention may be required, for example, to locate sets of documents showing discrepancies during machine processing. For example a deposit comprising a deposit slip and documents making up the deposit may show a discrepancy between a deposit total as reflected on the deposit slip and the actual total of the deposited items. Human intervention is then typically necessary to locate the documents, determine the reason for the discrepancy and make adjustments needed to correct the discrepancy. Each time a human operator performs an operation in a document processing operation, the operator must be furnished with necessary information, such as where to take the documents, where to find an item which needs to be examined, which items have a higher priority for processing, and the like.
In typical deposit processing systems, deposits are grouped into batches of approximately 250 items each. Work is organized by entries, where an entry is a large number of documents processed and reconciled as a unit. During processing, an entry is divided into a number of smaller units. Each of the smaller units comprises a more convenient quantity of documents for sorting, temporary storage and research and document location by a human operator.
During interim processing stages, each of the smaller units is stored in a document tray. An entry typically comprises approximately 10,000 items, and each of the smaller units stored in a document tray consists of approximately 2,000 items. Each batch comprises groups of related documents representing a single transaction, for example a deposit which consists of a deposit slip and the documents, such as checks, making up the deposit.
A deposit processing system includes one or more item transports, each of which performs various operations on items and sorts the items into pockets. As items arrive in pockets, they are placed into trays. Each tray typically holds items from a single entry and a single pocket, and is identified by a number.
In order to receive information about where to look for an item or to receive instructions about what to do with a tray, an operator using a prior art document processing system typically needs to go to a display to receive the information, and then look for a tray which is identified by tray number Typically, a tray is identified by a number written on a label affixed to the tray. The number may represent an entry number, pocket number or tray number, for example. When an operator places the contents of a pocket in a tray, he or she refers to data presented on a display in order to determine what number or numbers should be written on the tray label in order to associate the tray with the pocket and with the entry to which the pocket contents belong. It is possible for the operator to enter the tray number incorrectly, or for the tray number to fall off, leading to a failure to properly identify a tray containing a desired item or a tray which is to be moved to another processing stage. In addition, the need to walk to a console to obtain information about which tray contains a needed item or where a tray should be taken next interferes with operator productivity by forcing operators to walk back and forth between consoles and work areas in order to obtain information and then act on it. Furthermore, trays are routinely moved to holding areas while other operations occur which on completion require the movement of trays to new locations. It is not always clearly known when the operations will be finished and a tray will need to be moved to the next location. The providing of operator information through a console will result in a loss of efficiency because the operator will have to check the console periodically during the time a tray is being held, until the tray is ready to be moved. An operator's time will be wasted by having to check repeatedly to determine whether a tray should be moved, or alternatively a tray will be held beyond the time that processing is able to begin.
Moreover, it is extremely inconvenient to determine which trays should be assigned priority in handling if the information is obtained by walking over to a console to check on the priority of a tray. This is because priorities are preferably set according to the total dollar amounts of the items contained in a tray, the association of a tray with an entry having a high priority or other factors associated with the contents of the tray. Because the contents of a tray, and the relative status of the tray with respect to other trays, is subject to change, it is difficult to predict when a tray will assume a high priority warranting special handling. In order to determine without undue delay when the contents of a tray achieve a high priority, it would be necessary to repeatedly go to a console to check the priority of the various trays. This would interfere with work, as operators repeatedly checked the console to determine if a particular tray had achieved a special priority.
There exists, therefore, a need for a system which will allow a reliable association between a tray and documents within the tray, which will allow an operator to receive needed information relating to a document tray without a need to go to a central location to receive the information, which will allow immediate operator notification when a particular tray is to be moved to a new processing location, and which will allow immediate notification of changes in priority of the documents associated with and contained in a tray.